LOS ANGELES , California -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Rob Thomas is a busy guy -- so busy , he apparently has n't had much time to check in with his Matchbox Twenty bandmates .

Rob Thomas prefers to focus on the `` musician '' side of his career , rather than `` celebrity . ''

We only know this because we ran into guitarist Paul Doucette at the BMI Pop Awards in Beverly Hills several weeks ago , where he was picking up a plaque for songwriter of the year .

`` We 're interviewing Rob about his solo album , '' I told him .

`` Hey , '' Doucette exclaimed . `` Tell that guy to call me , would you ? I did n't even know he was in L.A. ! ''

By the time we met up with Thomas the next day , he and Doucette had already connected over drinks somewhere between midnight and the morning -- musician 's hours .

Thomas recently released `` Cradlesong , '' his second solo CD . Even though he 's clearly excited about it , he spends as much time talking about Matchbox Twenty as he does the solo album he 's in town to promote . For the 37-year-old singer-songwriter , it 's all interconnected . One has fed into the other since he gained household name status a decade ago , after scoring a massive , Grammy-winning hit with Carlos Santana on `` Smooth . '' Watch Thomas describe the difference between being a celebrity and a musician ''

The following is an edited version of the interview .

CNN : Who has given you the best piece of advice ?

Rob Thomas : Carlos -LSB- Santana -RSB- will constantly send you messages out of nowhere . Carlos will call me at 10 at night and be like , `` Listen , I had a dream about you , and so much good is happening , but there 's dark forces at work , and when you get out of here , I have this woman who wants to cleanse you . '' I think Carlos ' most important piece of advice ever was that he taught me the difference between being a celebrity and being a famous musician .

CNN : But some artists do n't have that kind of success , and they try for celebrity instead .

Thomas : Sure , and sometimes that works -- but none of my favorites have done that .

I remember when Matchbox Twenty started years ago , and we had a lot of success , but nobody knew who we were . The first time we did an interview with MTV , it was about how no one knew who we were . We had sold 8 million records . I do n't know if we were being naive at the time , but we thought we 'd won because our songs were more famous than we were .

I 'm much more known for the music that I make than what I do with my life . It 's never , `` Oh yeah , I 've been seeing you in -LSB- the New York Post gossip column -RSB- Page Six at these clubs that you go to '' or `` I know who you 're sleeping with . ''

CNN : When you became famous for being Rob Thomas the solo artist , did that cause problems within the band ?

Thomas : No . I think the guys would rather it be me than them . None of them want the job , and they realize that it 's working now . They have a singer . I can go out and do it -LSB- publicity -RSB- for them , and they 're fine with it . They can stay home .

I think there 's nothing more attractive than wealth and anonymity . If I 'm not out supporting my work , I really do n't want people to see me . I go to movie premieres -- my wife and I -- all the time , and nine out of 10 of those movie premieres , much to my publicist 's dismay , I get there , but I sneak around the pictures and get into the party -LSB- using the back entrance -RSB- . If I have a record coming out , I 'll go in front of the cameras , and I 'll say , `` Hi ! Hey , I 'm at this movie premiere . '' I liken it to being a switch that I can move on and off .

CNN : What has doing a solo project enabled you to do that you ca n't do with a band ?

Thomas : I get to pick my own schedule , and that 's nice . Matchbox Twenty -- it 's four lead singers , there 's four front men , and everybody 's tastes , everybody 's schedule , everybody 's personal life comes into account when you 're doing something like that . We all live -LSB- in four different cities -RSB- ... so we literally have to pull ourselves up from all over the country and go somewhere , just to get us into a room to write . And you have to not think you 're so great so you do n't get upset when somebody does n't like your stuff .

Like `` Her Diamonds '' -- one of the singles on this solo album -- is one of my favorite songs that I 've ever written , and the guys loved the song , but did n't want to play it . -LSB- They said , -RSB- `` When you do a new solo record , you should put it on there . It does n't sound like a song we would do right now . '' And they were right . When we put together the last Matchbox record , it was much more of a rock record .

CNN : What 's the most surprising thing on your iPod ?

Thomas : Britney Spears . Come on ! `` Toxic , '' man , is just one of the baddest tracks ever ! I remember the first time we listened to '' ... Baby One More Time . '' ... We were like , `` Oh , let 's go play Britney Spears on the piano ! '' And we all come over drinking , and after a couple of minutes , we 're like , `` This Britney Spears is a lot harder than we thought ! ''

CNN : Whose career would you like to emulate ?

Thomas : Tom Petty is a famous musician . He 's not a music celebrity . When Tom Petty walks down the street , you know that it 's Tom Petty , but it would be like , `` Oh my gosh , it 's Tom Petty ! I love Tom Petty , right on ! '' It would never be like , `` Aaaaaaaah ! '' -- and 3 million teenage girls follow him down the street .

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Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty has new album out , `` Cradlesong ''

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Thomas says Matchbox Twenty is still very much together

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Singer : `` Nothing more attractive than wealth and anonymity ''